"Which drop in base plate"???

[BT3 WOODOG]

Nice job JR! I like it!!!

[JR]

Woodog, yer killin' me, man!

Ok, here it is. It's a whole new cabinet, table, and fence for my BT3000. The insert plate is plenty flat, with just a hint of crown. When I first mounted the router the plate warped, but a more diligent torquing technique fixed it right up.




The cabinet design was sent to me by billst, a new forum member, who was kind enough to send me his drawings. His much better version are linked in this thread http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...395#post242395 I followed Bill's design very closely, deviating only as necessary for the materials I had available. I made this one out of scrap 3/4" plywood and maple for the trim.



I followed the Wood Magazine design for the fence as closely as I could. I made the dadoes in perfect symmetry, then realized I had offset the insert plate. So some quick adjustments were in order, resulting in an unused set of dadoes in the fence support.



The materials were mainly shop scraps. I bought some hardware, including the knobs seen on the back of the fence (>$2 ea.!), the dust control port, the bit guard and the connector bolts, and some melmine trim. About $25.

I haven't done much work with this setup yet, which is I guess what woodog want to hear about. I did the dadoes for the fence after having made the table. That seemed to work just fine.

JR

[BT3 WOODOG]

[BT3 WOODOG]

So JR, how's the router set-up going??? I received My plate,but haven't mounted it becouse the left over peice of counter top that I was going to use is worped!!! Oh well!!! After I orderd it from HF it went on sale for $15.00,so I e-mailed them and they credited Me the differance.Then I ordered one more! Later!

[hermit]

I went the homegrown route too, but I just used 1/2" mdf. Its cheap, and you can make all the different size holes you want. I used to have a picture, but it went away with my old computer. If you want I can post one later on.

Todd

[Ken Massingale]

Received the replacement inserts (round, yellow and red) from MLSC. Same problem as my other post. They are cupped (downward) about 1/16". I cannot cut accurate dovetails with this setup. I don't recommend anyone by the MLCS All-In-One router plate if you are using an INCRA Dovetail jig on your router table. This plate may be OK when using wider boards but cutting the endgrain of a vertical board (I have to cut a dovetail rabbit this way) yields an uneven cut.

I'd ask for a refund.

[ragswl4]

MLCS Router Plate Replacement Inserts

Received the replacement inserts (round, yellow and red) from MLSC. Same problem as my other post. They are cupped (downward) about 1/16". I cannot cut accurate dovetails with this setup. I don't recommend anyone by the MLCS All-In-One router plate if you are using an INCRA Dovetail jig on your router table. This plate may be OK when using wider boards but cutting the endgrain of a vertical board (I have to cut a dovetail rabbit this way) yields an uneven cut.

[JR]

OH, woodog, mine is a tale of woe...

I've been too busy to get any shop time. With any luck at all I'll build the fence this weekend and be able to give a complete report.

JR

[BT3 WOODOG]

JR,have You tried out Your table yet? I orderd the plate from H.F. last night,so I'm interested in Your thoughts!

[ryan.s]

Ryan...very cool mate

Thanks silicon!

[ragswl4]

Update On MLCS All-In-One router plate

After installation I attempted some dovetails using an Incra Jig. Had some problems which I indentified as the two (one yellow, one red) insert rings. Neither of these rings were flat. In fact there was a depression in both from the outside to the inside, such that the wood would dip into the bit by as much as 1/16" of an inch. I called MLCS and they immediately offered and shipped two new rings at their cost. Waiting to see if new rings are any better that the originals. Should anyone purchase this insert plate, check these insert rings before installing. I have now routed out my table top and mounted the router and cannot use it.

As my original post said, it was relatively easy to install the plate but performance is not there, at least not yet.

[siliconbauhaus]

Ryan...very cool mate

[ryan.s]

Ryan,

Which exact product did you get from these guys? And then, i guess you cut the plate to the correct measurements on your table saw, and left the corners square. Did you do anything for a starting pin? Did you do anything for leveling? What kind of finishing did you do to the aluminum after cutting/drilling/taping?

-Pakaderm

Pakaderm - I first made templates for the opening on the table and a template for the insert out of mdf to get an exact fit. Once the templates were done I bought a couple pieces of 1/4 inch aluminum plate which was the approximate size of the insert. I trimmed the plate so that it was slightly oversized using the bandsaw. I taped the mdf template using double sided carpet tape then flushed it up using a router and a flush trim bit. I can't remember exactly the type of aluminum that I bought but it was from the remnants pile.

In terms of leveling, I measure the depth of the plate and used that to route out the opening. I could of added leveling screws but didn't think it was necessary since the height was pretty close. Just used a little bit of masking take on the underside of the insert to shim the height so that it's flush with the table.

I didn't use any sort of finish on the aluminum, just sanded it down with 220 grit sandpaper then applied a couple coats of butcher's wax after the insert was on the table.

If you want more pictures of the base plate, fence or the table itself let me know. Just another alternative to buying a base plate. Hope this helps.

Edit - Here is the link to a post from last June with some more pictures of the table and a little bit of the build process. The only thing that has changed is I added some baltic birch between the aluminum and the mdf on the fence to allow more room for larger bits. I almost forgot, I also completed the DC system of the table by adding a Venturi baffle system on the inside of the cabinet and trimming a little bit off the bottom of the main cabinet door for an air slit. This made a huge difference in DC capability of the table. Also added dust ports to the back of the table for the hose connections.

http://www.bt3central.com/showthread...t=router+table

[Pakaderm]

Not sure if this is the route you want to go but I ended up making one out of a quarter inch sheet of aluminum for less than $5. Actually I made two, one with a standard opening for the bit and one with a bigger opening. It was very easy once I got the templates measured and made.

Ryan,

Which exact product did you get from these guys? And then, i guess you cut the plate to the correct measurements on your table saw, and left the corners square. Did you do anything for a starting pin? Did you do anything for leveling? What kind of finishing did you do to the aluminum after cutting/drilling/taping?

-Pakaderm

[ryan.s]

Ryan S.,

Where did you pick up the aluminum? Thats a great way to go. I like the idea of have plates with different size holes. That should increase accuracy as opposed to inserting/removing rings.

Rags - I picked up the aluminum from a place called Industrial Metal Supply. They have several locations in southern california. http://www.imsmetals.com/

They have a huge selection of different types of metals and prices are pretty good.